President Ilham Aliyev’s address to participants of “Neocolonialism: Human Rights Violations and Injustice” international conference circulated as UN official document

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev’s address to the participants of the international conference themed “Neocolonialism: Human Rights Violations and Injustice” held in Baku on October 20, has been circulated as an official document of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.

“Azerbaijan is deeply concerned about the continuation of colonialism and the increasing tendencies of its emerging manifestations in the 21st century. Although nearly 70 years have passed since the Bandung Conference, there are some countries that still continue to pursue colonialism. One of such countries and the foremost is France.

Overall, most of the bloody crimes in the mankind history of colonialism were committed precisely by France. France, occupying dozens of countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, the Pacific, and Latin America, plundering their resources and oppressing their peoples for many years, committed numerous war crimes and crimes against humanity. The French armed forces subjected hundreds of thousands of civilians to genocide on the grounds of their ethnic and religious affiliation,” President Ilham Aliyev said in his address.

“France ranks among the leading countries globally in terms of the use of landmines. Over 5 million landmines were planted across Algeria alone. As a result, just like Azerbaijan, Algeria is among the top countries in the world suffering the most from mine explosions. Immediately behind France, its close ally – Armenia is the following on that list. In just three years, some 340 Azerbaijanis fell victim to the mines planted by Armenia across Azerbaijan’s formerly occupied territories. Among them are also civilians. One of the reasons that bind these two countries so closely is their practice of resorting to mine terrorism,” the head of state noted.

“As the Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement, Azerbaijan supports the peoples who fight colonialism and aim to free themselves. Your participation in the Ministerial Meeting in Baku on 6 July 2023, in the framework of Azerbaijan’s Chairmanship in the Non-Aligned Movement, then at the UN General Assembly Headquarters in New York on 22 September, and today again in Baku, at an event dedicated to the fight against colonialism, its consequences and neocolonialism, which is of special relevance for mankind, is a vivid manifestation of Azerbaijan’s support for that cause as the Chair of the Non-Aligned Movement,” the Azerbaijani President emphasized.

The circulation of President Ilham Aliyev’s address as an official document of the UN General Assembly and the Security Council is a clear indication of the high appreciation by the international community of the important role played by the Azerbaijani President and the country in international processes, including the country’s contribution to mobilizing collective efforts in the fight against colonialism and producing new ideas and initiatives aimed at ensuring the prosperity mankind and leaving the new a “colonialism-free world” to future generations.